<p>Saint Andrew’s consistently rates among the top crew programs in the nation. To get a good feel for it, a Facebook page dedicated solely to SAS’ incredible crew program can be found here: <a href=“https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Andrews-Crew/114534725227164[/url]”>https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Andrews-Crew/114534725227164</a></p>
<p>I know that Choate has an excellent crew team.</p>
<p>Which BS has the best Crew Team? The school with the most Club/ Dev Camp rowers on their roster. </p>
<p>There. I said it. :)</p>
<p>I would agree with PhotographerMom with one added litmus test: The school that sends the most rowers to quality college programs.</p>
<p>Can you say Belmont Hill? ;)</p>
<p>The most dev/selection camp rowers from a prep school (not talking about clubs here) is often a sign of the team with a coach with the closest ties to U.S. Rowing. That’s a sign of good coaches, but not necessarily the best team as many teams will have one or two stand-out rowers. Agree with 7dad that it’s worth looking at college rosters–if nothing else it will show you where colleges go to recruit. </p>
<p>However, for the best team, I till think it makes the most sense to look at the teams that consistently place in the top 3 at the principal high school regattas.</p>
<p>classicalmama, what are some of “the principal high school regattas”? Can you provide a list of teams that consistently place in the top 3?</p>
<p>And there are BS rowers who go to Dev Camps because of a Club. All BS Crew programs are top notch and so is the coaching. And there are many BS/HS coaches with close ties to USRowing. I was just pointing out who was moving the water.</p>
<p>I agree with SD, too. Looking at college rosters can be helpful. You’ll find the name of the athlete and HS, but I can guarantee that 9 out of 10 rowers are recruited because of their Club (first) and their School (second). The SS rowing season is too short to have that big of an impact.</p>
<p>Photographermom, is there a way to find out which school(s) get most rowers recruited by top colleges?</p>
<p>Look at SPS. They may not win the most races but the school has good facilities, a knowledgeable coach with good connections, and many of the top rowers do very well in getting into rowing programs at top ranked colleges.</p>
<p>Lawrenceville has DEFINITELY the best crew team.</p>
<p>You might want to consider accessibility of the boat houses. Some schools have them right on campus; others have to be driven to.</p>
<p>I think I made this point earlier, but how a team performs in any given year is going to depend on what sort of athletes it happens to have in its program at the time. Sure we could argue that good programs recruit good athletes, but how much recruiting is done at the HS level? I honestly don’t know.</p>
<p>Also, as I think I’ve also mentioned before, the amount of $ a school puts into any program, is, I think, a good indicator as any of the importance a school assigns to that particular program. Crew, squash, etc. (See Luke 12:34)</p>
<p>My kid knew nothing about rowing before high school. I gather there’s some informal recruting done, but crew is unique in that lots of kids switch over from other sports in high school and end up excelling. Height and weight are important criteria, and most kids just aren’t there before 10th grade or so.</p>
<p>I wasn’t disagreeing with Photographer Mom, and SPS was a school I had in mind when I posted my comments. Exeter routinely beats them, and yet they’ve got some of the best coaches and ties to the U.S. Rowing Program. At the same, it can be hard, when you’re a good rower, to never place high in a major regatta.</p>
<p>As PhotographerMom points out, clubs offer both accessibility to top, connected coaches and solid teams. That’s why the West Coast teams, which are largely club based, tend to get lots of spots on the U.S. Rowing team and to win national races. So looking for a good club in the summer can be really helpful. My kid, this summer, rowed for a club a long way from home, living with a family while he trained with the team. Their team had great success at Club Nationals, which helped lots of the boys with their college recruiting.</p>
<p>So the anwer to the OPs question is, I think, it’s complicated… On the upside, as others have pointed out, most prep schools have good, well-connected coaches and programs, and guys from teams that don’t win regattas are still recruited by colleges and placed on U.S. rowing teams, because size and erg times matter more than the best team on the high school level. On the other side, my kid would argue (having done both) that it’s much more fun to row for a team that wins!</p>
<p>NEIRA’s is the northeastern championship. You can look at Junior Nationals and Henley as well, but not all prep schools send their boats there because of scheduling conflicts. If you want to check out results, your best bet is to go to Row2k at the link below, and scroll down to high school results, beginning May 23, when most prep schools are holding their final regattas.</p>
<p>[row2k</a> 2013 Rowing Race Results](<a href=“http://www.row2k.com/results/index.cfm]row2k”>2023 Rowing Regatta Results | row2k.com)</p>
<p>In Mid-Atlantic area, Stotesbury is the big regatta…usually won by day schools and/or public school programs.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Choate lost 11 (boy) rowers to graduation last year, including two very elite rowers to two very elite programs. So, the team is “young” again, but that is providing a lot of opportunity for the rest of the boys. Watch out next year, though. :)</p>
<p>Hmmm…I actually don’t see a link to a final regatta for the mid-Atlantic/southern prep schools…guess I assumed they’d be on Row2k. Rowers from that region will have to help with that.</p>
<p>Also, should have clarified that there can be a big difference between schools between boys and girls rowing teams. I know most about the boys, not the girls, when it comes to team results. That said, Exeter’s girls team coaches have been an invaluabe source of support, technical advice, and connections for my kid.</p>
<p>Here’s the link to Stotesbury site:</p>
<p><a href=“http://stotesburycupregatta.com%5B/url%5D”>http://stotesburycupregatta.com</a></p>
<p>I love everything about this sport… the beautiful venues, teamwork, the discipline it gives kids and how that in turn effects every aspect of their lives. There’s nothing like it and I can tell I’m not alone in feeling that way! 
</p>
<p>I think the infusion of club rowers into BS rowing programs has been a good thing. Sometimes in spring I’ll hear parents grousing about boarding schools racing clubs (which is never an issue in fall), but I think that’s a good thing, too. It definitely raises the bar and exposes kids to rowing outside the BS bubble.</p>
<p>More and more BS coaches are calling club coaches and arranging for them to train kids during Spring Break- before or after the kids go to Florida or wherever. Given the number of various school decals on cars at our boathouse last March ( and summer), it looks like it’s becoming a trend.</p>
<p>Hopefully next spring boarding schools will start beating clubs like CJRC, CBC, MJRC and CRI (and all the rest). I still have hope and I know BS rowers are working hard to make it happen.</p>
<p><em>cough cough</em> winsor <em>cough cough</em></p>
<p>Day school though</p>